The Things We Do For Friends
by Sally B. Mcgill
Summary: Dakota isn't just on a mission to save the world through time travel. He's also making sure his friend survives it with him. Based on The Island of Lost Dakotas episode.


**A/N: Okay, let me just say that The Island of Lost Dakotas was the saddest and sweetest episode of Milo Murphy's Law to come out so far. I loved the revelation that Vinnie has been purposely going back in time to save Balthazar continuously, despite the fact that it requires out casting himself. That's just true devotion and friendship in my book. So, I wrote this thing as a little tribute to all those Dakotas stuck on an island together to keep Cavendish alive. You rock guys.**

…

"Here it is, your new home, Corndog Dakota." The orange shirt-wearing leader of the island said to the new arrival, showing him to a large hut a few clicks away from the rest. The new Dakota couldn't help but be a little surprised. "Wait, you guys already had a cabin waiting for me?"

The leader gave a little shrug. "Well, it's more like we figured that a lot more of us would be coming here, so we thought we'd better be prepared, you know?" Then he opened the door for the new resident. Corndog Vinnie grew an appreciative smile as he looked around the place. It was quite beautiful, the perfect blend of modern technology, items naturally grown on the island and things invented by the more creative Dakotas, with a comfy bed and shelves as well as a flat-screen TV and other gadgets. "Nice place," The new Dakota approved.

"Thanks. Just relax for a little bit, we'll send Tour Guide Dakota to show you around later. Till then, stay away from Cannibal Dakota and Really Smelly Dakota, and you should be okay for now." And with that the leader of the Dakotas was gone, closing the door behind him and leaving the new resident of the island to his thoughts.

Corndog Dakota made his way to the bed, sighing as he slipped off his shoes and laid flat on his back, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. He didn't expect a whole civilization of himself to be thriving on an island with a volcano that may or may not activate at any given moment. Then again, he also hadn't expected to end up here. He had thought that the last Dakota he sent here would be the last Dakota to go, but apparently, Cavendish had needed saving. Again.

This certainly hadn't been what the tracksuit-wearing individual had expected when he first started time traveling in the 1970s. Then again, he hadn't expected meeting Balthazar Cavendish either.

…

Dakota had a straightforward mission when he signed up to be a time traveler: To stop the Mississippi purchase. That was his primary focus, and when that was done, he figured he just go wherever the job took him. So, while following that mentality, he found himself partnered with Cavendish.

It was during that first meeting that Dakota could see that the two of them were polar opposites. While he was laid-back, the 1870s gentleman was strictly paranoid. It seemed that every mission they worked on together was spent with arguments and tense conversations. Honestly, Dakota had been confused as to why the two of them had been paired together. They could barely agree on lunch, let alone on the right way to finish their jobs.

Cavendish seemed forever annoyed at him, unable to tolerate his way of thinking or his casual words at a time. At the same time, Dakota consistently wished Balthazar would loosen up a bit. His suit-wearing acquaintance was unable to relax and insisted that every failure was majorly his partner's fault.

However, they had been paired together, so while he wouldn't say they became friends, Dakota could say they had grown used to each other, as well as accepting of each others' difference for the most part. And it had basically been the way they had worked, all the way until they had arrived at 2016 when they had been assigned the task of guarding pistachios. That's when a steady stream of death-related incidences befell them. And by them, he meant Cavendish.

The first time it had happened, when Balthazar had fallen into the Grand Canyon, Vinnie hadn't been able to bear the thought that his partner was gone. It may go against about every rule in the time-traveling book, but they were a team, and they did care very much for each other. After the switcharoo of the past and present self, present Dakota had looked for a place where an alternate-reality version of himself could go without Cavendish or anyone else wouldn't think to find him.

After a thorough search through the Internet, he had found a promising place. An island with a volcano near a generally avoided area in the sea. He gave past Dakota the location in case the information was needed, then sailed to his new home. Since then, since the very first mission where Cavendish died, he had kept up the routine. When Cavendish died, he would go back, save him and then hide himself away, so no one knew what he had done to rescue his associate. Especially said associate.

The first few times he had done it, Dakota had had a few misgivings concerning the whole issue. He was mainly messing with time to save someone who didn't bother to mask his intolerance towards him. Also, he was creating many versions of himself and separating them from the rest of modern civilization. But now, he thought nothing of the whole thing. Most days, at least.

Balthazar Cavendish had many flaws. He was self-righteous, entitled, snooty, very bossy, argumentative, stuck-up and generally no fun. However, they were friends. And, despite a crass comment here and there, they did care for each other and their desires.

Dakota could see how much the jobs they did matter to Cavendish. The pistachio duty and every other consequential task Mr. Block gave them, were a means to an end for the suit-wearing man. This was important to him, so it was important to Dakota. So, even if he had to alienate himself from the rest of the advancing world, again and again, he would continue to do so. Because that's how much their friendship meant to Vinnie.

The common phrase said, "Actions speak louder than words." So, this was Corndog Dakota's, every Dakota's really, way of showing their partner how much he mattered to him. Even if he would never know it or appreciate it. And while his obviousness bothered the tracksuit-wearing man at times, what are you gonna do? He's Cavendish. And that was more than enough for any Dakota.

"Oh, hey Corndog Dakota." The addressed Dakota sat up to see another one of his lookalikes, this one dressed in a blue suit and with long hair. "It's time for the tour. If we hurry, we should be able to make it to the showing of the other me and Cavendish."

Adopting a soft smile, Dakota stood up and quickly put on his shoes. "Yeah, okay. Let's go."

…

 **This episode is a beautiful example of true friendship. I love it and hope other events surrounding their platonic relationship are coming in Season 2. Just seems as though the friendships throughout most TV shows are turned into romantic ones of late, so it's nice to bask in the pure, simple relationship between two friends. Hope you all enjoyed the fanfic, more to come real soon.**


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